"Nothing short of an aroused public can change things; nothing less than democracy is at stake." - Bill Moyers

December 5, 2008

A Chance to Talk Back? Who Woulda Thunk?

A couple of days after the election I read about change.gov where we could post emails to the transition team which, at the time, consisted of Obama and Biden. So, I went there and told them what my priorities for the early stages of the new administration are. Things like: restore the Constitution [including habeas corpus, f'rinstance] and repudiating torture, bringing home our troops, upgrading education [especially at the elementary and middle school levels], and addressing health care issues, etc. etc. etc. [Click on American Moment, then on Share Your Vision or Share Your Story].Truth be told, I posted the email with faint hope. After all, even before Bush came along, I didn't expect my government to actually listen to me except when I was physically inside the voting booth [and, yes, I do understand that even that is more influence than most people on the planet ever get a chance to have.]

So, imagine my surprise, today, when Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post alerted us to the fact that the transition team seems to be reading the emails and responding to them! That's right! They're paying attention to us!Now, they've begun actually posing questions and asking us to tell them what we think. They're asking us to give them suggestions! And, after reading a bunch, they even post a video response to what they've read! They're talking about ideas they're getting from us that they're going to take under advisement and look into implementing!

The latest question is: "Please tell us your story about how the economy is affecting you and what you would like to see us do about it."

Oh. My. God.Have I died and gone to heaven and not noticed till now? Or what?